IA IA - Naomi Wilson, 32, Cedar Rapids, 12 April 1981

Missing since April 12, 1981 from Cedar Rapids, Linn County, Iowa.
Classification: Endangered Missing


Naomi was last seen at home on April 12th. Her boyfriend of 3 years stated that the day started normally. Although Naomi usually attended church, she did not that day. The boyfriend attended noon services and returned to Naomi's home during the mid-afternoon. Shortly after, he and Naomi left within minutes of each other about 4:00 pm. The boyfriend was going to his mothers house and Naomi was to get gasoline for her car and to visit a woman she worked with a Harnischfeger Corp. Plant.

The boyfriend reported passing her car an hour later on the street and that was the last time that he saw her. However, the friend she was to visit reported that Naomi never showed up. The boyfriend said when Naomi did not return home that night that he searched for her until 3:00 am and had also searched with friends the following day. It wasn't until an employee at Harnischfeger called to say that Naomi did not show up for work, that he finally called the police to report that she was missing.

Naomi's car, a 1978 White Ford Fairmont with license number DOY 622, was found on Tuesday April 14th in a Kmart parking lot on 16th Avenue SE. Friends and Law Enforcement searched for Naomi, including in a wooded area near the K-mart, but no trace of Naomi was ever found.

Naomi was described as a friendly, levelheaded and very reliable person. Divorced for 3 years, She had acquired furniture, a car and had bought a home the previous summer. At the time of her disappearance she was continuously buying things to fix up her home. Friends and family did not feel she would have walked away from the life she worked so hard for.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/359dfia.html


Charley Project - http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/w/wilson_naomi.html

NamUs

More information can be found here:

Iowa's Cold Case File

Naomi was being considered for this Jane Doe. Not sure if she has been ruled out.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?60408-TX-Houston-BlkFem-475UFTX-20-35-4-Inch-Afro-Hairstyle-Aug-81

Couldn' t find a thread for her...

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
Naomi Wilson – The Charley Project

Naomi Wilson

• 

Wilson, circa 1981

• Missing Since04/12/1981
• Missing FromCedar Rapids, Iowa
• ClassificationEndangered Missing
• Date of Birth08/20/1948 (71)
• Age32 years old
• Height and Weight5'3, 112 pounds
• Clothing/Jewelry DescriptionA black two-piece pantsuit.
• Distinguishing CharacteristicsAfrican-American female. Black hair, brown eyes. Wilson's ears are pierced. Her maiden name is Pollard.

Details of Disappearance
Wilson was last seen at her home in the 1600 block of 13th Avenue southeast in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on April 12, 1981. Her boyfriend of three years, Colbert L. "Billy" Beets, stated she behaved normally that day, but did not attend church as she usually did.

Beets attended the midday services, then went to Wilson's residence in the afternoon. He and Wilson left within a few minutes of on another at 4:00 p.m. Beets went to his mother's house and Wilson was supposed to get gas for her car and then go visit a friend she worked with at the Harnischfeger Corporation plant.

Wilson never went to see her friend, but Beets says he drove past her car, which was going in the opposite direction, about an hour after he left her house. She has never been heard from again. The next day, when he found out she hadn't showed up for work, Beets reported her missing.

Two days after Wilson's disappearance, Beets's brother found her white 1978 Ford Fairmont with the license plate number DOY 622 was found in the parking lot of a K-Mart store in the 2700 block of 16th Avenue southwest. There was no sign of Wilson at the scene.

Wilson was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama and moved to Chicago, Illinois after graduating high school. She married and moved to Cedar Rapids in the late 1970s. She got divorced in 1978 and began dating Beets, her former husband's uncle. She had bought a car, furniture and a home the previous summer, and is described as a level-headed and reliable individual who was making good money at her job. It is uncharacteristic of her to leave without warning.

Beets moved into her home five months after she vanished, but didn't pay the mortgage; he continued to live there until the house was foreclosed on in January 1982. Many members of his family have gotten into trouble with the law over the years, but none of them have been named as suspects in Wilson's disappearance. Her ex-husband is not believed to be involved in her case.

Wilson is one of five siblings. Two of her brothers died before her disappearance; the other two, who were living in Atlanta, Georgia in 1981, traveled to Iowa to help in the search for her. Foul play is suspected in Wilson's case, but little evidence is available in her disappearance.
Investigating Agency

• Cedar Rapids Police Department 319-286-5374

Source Information

• Iowa Missing Person Information Clearinghouse
• The Gazette
• The Doe Network
• Io

Street view of her house

Google Maps

The Charley Project has removed her from their pages but she still has a NamUs file so I'm not sure why Charley has removed her. Could she have been found and NamUs just didn't remove her? I also saw that there are 3 exclusions for her on NamUs as well. Can't find any other information out there but I will keep checking back.

UPDATE: Submitted a request to mods to merge this thread with: IA - IA - Naomi Wilson, 32, Cedar Rapids, 12 April 1981

Sleuth91 said:

UPDATE: Submitted a request to mods to merge this thread with: IA - IA - Naomi Wilson, 32, Cedar Rapids, 12 April 1981

Click to expand...

Whoops this is the same thread. Not sure how I did that.

Dylansmom08 said:

The Charley Project has removed her from their pages but she still has a NamUs file so I'm not sure why Charley has removed her. Could she have been found and NamUs just didn't remove her? I also saw that there are 3 exclusions for her on NamUs as well. Can't find any other information out there but I will keep checking back.

Click to expand...

I'm not sure why she was deleted, but shes been added back. I think it was just a glitch bc it says the page hasnt been updated since 2015. Naomi Wilson – The Charley Project

Trace Evidence Podcast released an episode about Naomi's disappearance. https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aH...9hcGkuc3ByZWFrZXIuY29tL2VwaXNvZGUvNDg2OTY3NDE

I have so many questions regarding this story.

The fact that she didn't go to church that Sunday, as she usually did, suggests she needed that extra time for something else. Since she was constantly buying things for her recently purchased home, could she have had plans to meet a seller that day? But then again, why not say so? It seems innocuous enough.

Naomi didn't show up at her friend's house. But did the friend confirm that the two had actually planned to meet up that day? Because if not, then this would suggest Naomi was just using her friend (with or without her knowledge) as a cover to do something else.

It's reported that many members of Naomi's current boyfriend, Beets, got in trouble with the law over the years, but none has been named a suspect. Could an acquaintance of those family members targeted Naomi as retaliation against them?

And last, is there independent confirmation of Beets' story? He says Naomi stayed home from church, and was even there when he returned from church. Did anyone else see her at home or in the area? He also says he happened to drive past her car later that day. Did anyone else see the car? It seems like he's the only person to have seen her at all that day.

Ditto on all your good questions, @JSolt1210 !

This is an additional thing I found puzzling:

“He and Wilson left within a few minutes of on another at 4:00 p.m. Beets went to his mother's house…Wilson never went to see her friend, but Beets says he drove past her car, which was going in the opposite direction, about an hour after he left her house.”

How far away did his mom live? How long was he at her house? Where was he going when he passed Naomi’s car?

Iowa Cold Cases has a good write-up focusing on the extended Beets clan.

article Dec 13, 2020